Eat less and live longer

“All those snacks will be the death of you”, say scientists. Scientists believe they may have found the key to a longer life. Just eat less. The human lifespan could be extended by as much as 59 years if calories are cut and waistlines trimmed, the theory goes.

Research with mice and rats has shown that a strict diet not only increases lifespan – it cuts disease.

Dr. Brian Merry, of the Institute of Human Ageing at Liverpool University, has been studying diet as part of the process of ageing.

“We are quite literally eating ourselves to death,” he says. “Only recently it was reported that as a nation we are becoming more obese.”

“We have managed to extend a rat’s lifespan by anything up to 42 per cent. But American groups have managed 50 to 60 per cent.”

“It does not only slow down ageing but also protects animals against the diseases of ageing.”

Biologists have now launched a controversial international trial with 60 volunteers, despite some scientific misgivings.

The U.S. government is expected to give its approval later in the year to expand the programme. British volunteer Malcolm Greenhill, 41, hopes to cut his body weight by up to 20 per cent on a diet of vegetables, rice, oats and fruit.

“It was about a year ago that I first became interested,” he said. “My mother had just died of cancer and my father suffered a heart attack and then had aquadruple operation.”

“I am going to live to 140. I know that’s wildly provocative thing to say, but at least I reckon that caloric restriction will put me in a position to take advantage of all the new science that is going to extend our lives.”

The research team, based in Arkansas, took the decision to try the diet model out on humans after stunning results on rodents.

Dr. Merry predicts that scientists will understand the reasons why diet restriction delays ageing within five years.

But he is skeptical of trying out the diet model on human beings. “People should not even think of doing this to themselves because it could result in brain damage,” he said.

“I think we need to understand a little bit more about how this process works before taking it a step further. We are concerned with improving the quality of life, not just the span.”

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